


With This Ring

by Mison_Addict



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Not fluffy AT ALL, Why Do They Do This To Me Dammit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 06:10:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4614195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mison_Addict/pseuds/Mison_Addict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There had been some talk that Abbie may be engaged at the beginning of S3. The BTS pics of Tom filming today showed Ichabod sans the masonic ring. Ergo...I had thoughts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With This Ring

He was leaving Sleepy Hollow. He had tried to convince himself he would have gone anyway, but the truth is if she wasn't leaving, he would have remained by her side. If she was staying, he could have dealt with everything. All of the loss and the pain would have been tolerable if he could turn to her. His Lieutenant.

His Lieutenant? Alas, she was no longer that. No longer a Lieutenant, and no longer his. So he is leaving Sleepy Hollow. Leaving both the worst and the best things that ever happened to him.

They agreed to meet for coffee on the day they were parting ways. The comfort and safety they had always found in one another now shielded behind a polite facade. To make saying goodbye less painful? Possibly. However, that plan was failing. He ached. He wanted to tell her he would miss her terribly. He wanted to beg her not to go. Or offer to accompany her. Instead, he handed her a padded envelope.

"Do not open this until you have arrived an are settled in at your new place."

"What? Why?" Abbie asked, taking the envelope and giving him a toned down version of that amused-by-him Abbie look to which he had become happily accustomed. 

"Because...just because."

"As a former professor, you should know 'because' is not a reason." She began to tear open the envelope. 

"No, Lieut- Abbie. Please."

But it was too late. She tipped the envelope and it fell into her hand.

"Your ring. Crane, this is your Masonic ring. I can't accept this." She placed it in his palm and kept her hand wrapped in his.

"I knew you would say that, which is why I did not want you to open it in my presence."

"Why did you-"

"There is also a letter."

Abbie looked with curiosity into the open envelope. She used her free hand to pull out and unfold the paper.

"I really wish you wouldn't-"

"My Dearest Abigail," she read. "I lacked the courage to say this to you whilst looking into your beautiful eyes." 

She looked at him and he looked at the table. She squeezed his hand lightly and continued, "I offer my sincerest apologies for that. I also did not wish to deter you from your new career. I know it is something you have wanted for a long time, and my arrival here is the reason you were delayed from that path. As I begin my journey in this modern world without you by my side, I wish nothing more than for a piece of me to remain yours. Please accept this ring and think of me if you are ever in need of a memory of what we once were to one another, whatever that may have been for you. What it was for me, I shall keep in my own heart. Just know that I wish nothing but happiness for you. I always have, and always will. Sincerely, Ichabod."

Her tear-filled eyes rose once again, and this time met his gaze. 

"Abbie, I-"

"Put it on."

"What?"

"Put the ring on my finger, Ichabod."

He said nothing. 

She reached her right hand over to him. "Please."

Silently, he took the ring from her left hand and placed it on her ring finger. As thin as his fingers were, hers were smaller and he spun the loose ring around nervously. 

"Ichabod, I need you to know something. What this...us...what it meant - means to you, is what it means to me."

"I am not entirely sure that is true."

She said nothing. She simply sat next to him, put her arms around his chest and hugged him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her and held her close, her head resting on his shoulder. They stayed that way for quite a while. When they finally let go, their eyes met. 

Abbie looked like she was going to explain further but instead, to Ichabod's disappointment, she simply said, "I...I have to go." And that's exactly what she did.

****************

After a very trying day of training Abbie wanted nothing more than to take off her shoes, put on comfy clothes, get a big glass of wine, and relax. 

She settled in on the couch and took off her jewelry. Earrings, necklace, but not the ring. Never the ring. 

She had bought a removable ring tightener so she could wear it. But at night, when she was alone and tired, she would take off the sizer and spin the ring around her finger the way Ichabod did on the last day she saw him. 

*spin* 

The last day she touched him. 

*spin*

The last day she felt the safety and comfort of his embrace. 

*spin*

The day she could have said more, and she didn't. 

*spin*

The day she wanted to ask him to come with her.

*spin*

The day she walked away.

*spin*

*spin*

*spin*


End file.
